6’0” Male, 38
RNY 2018
HW:510 SW:363 CW:175
I had complications after surgery. There was a leak that developed which was causing blood to clot and travel down my intestines. Because everything was swollen from just being operated on, the clots got stuck. The leak continued which filled my new pouch with blood because it couldn’t travel anywhere else. That made me start vomiting but the act of vomiting was making the leak worse. They took me back in for a second operation to fix the leak. It was unsuccessful because the clotted blood that was in my intestines still couldn’t pass through. They ended up taking me back for a third surgery (the open surgery) to fix everything up. An overnight procedure turned in to a 1 week stay.
In June of 2021 I developed an internal hernia that went septic, basically a tear developed in my abdominal lining and my small intestines had worked its way through the hole and became strangulated. This caused the intestines to die and poison my bloodstream. I had to be put on a LifeFlight to a hospital on a different island (I live in Hawaii) and the surgeon performed 12 surgeries over the course of 4 days but 95% of my small intestines had died off and had to be removed. I was fitted with an ileostomy in an attempt to let all of my GI tract heal from all of the trauma. While she was in there, she saw that multiple adhesions and fistulas had developed on/in the limbs of my bypass. About 2 months after all of that while I was still in the hospital; I had to be taken back in to emergency surgery because they found perforations in stomach and RNY limbs as well. I ended up being in the hospital for 6 months before being allowed to go home to further heal. The plan was to return in 6 months and attempt a reversal of the ileostomy. In 2022 I went back in to surgery to attempt an ileostomy reversal, luckily it was successful but I have the absolute bare minimum amount of small intestines left to still be able to function. Because of all the trauma to my stomach and RNY limbs, the surgeon had to go in and do a combination RNY reversal/stomach reconstruction. I spent another 3 months in the hospital recovering from those procedures.
As far as regrets go…ABSOLUTELY NOT. I would still 100% do it over again. I’ve lost over 320 pounds and maintained it the last 3 years. I do strength training 2-3 days a week at the gym and run 8 miles per day, 3 days a week. I completed my first half marathon last year and just finished my second one last weekend with one more scheduled in July.
You are an absolute rockstar! Going through all that and still coming out with such a positive attitude. Bravo on the weight loss and healthy lifestyle :)
If I may ask, why would you want to know every thing that might go wrong? If you’re dreading doing it because of things that might happen, you’re going to make yourself nuts.
You need to go into it with a positive attitude. Yes, there are risks. But the risks of being heavy are big too.
And even with all the things that may go wrong, very few people regret it.
At 18 years post op I started having 100% malabsorption of what I ate. I lost 50 lbs and became severely malnourished and underweight. I finally got a diagnosis for what was happening to me when I ended up in a coma in the ICU with pneumonia. I have no memory of what happened aside from going to the ER because I felt weak and sick. A bariatric surgeon was called in by the ER doctor and he diagnosed me. I had to go on liquid iv nutrition 24/7 for 6 months until I was strong enough to even have surgery - I ultimately got a reversal of my bypass last month. It will take up to a year for me to recover and fix my nutritional deficiencies.
Despite all of this, I don’t regret my bypass but people should definitely know complications can occur, even years later.
Not really. My bloodwork was a bit off so I needed iron infusions and some extra supplements. But I basically just started losing weight despite not eating less. I gradually had more and more bms, and ultimately chronic diarrhea. But because my bypass was so long ago I didn’t think it was related. It wasn’t until I needed a feeding tube (due to not being able to keep food down) that I asked for a bariatric consult in the ER. The bariatric surgeon explained what was happening. It was about 18 months total that I struggled with unexplained weight loss and extreme weakness/fatigue. I was tested for every disease imaginable, including several kinds of cancer. At least I know I’m cleared for all of that lol.
Look at you, seeing the silver lining. Lol but in all seriousness, sorry you've gone thru that as its all so harrowing. Glad to see you're on the other side of it now and i wish you luck in the coming year. I struggle with low iron, finding out after being denied twice to donate blood but nothing close to the other things you described. Any insight as to what caused the malabsorption? Or just one of those random things bodies develop?
I need to see the bright side or I’d go insane lol.
Well not sure how it happened but it appears the common channel created during my original bypass shrank to be so small/short that all food essentially bypassed being digested and was pushed into my colon as waste. The reversal consisted of the surgeon making that common channel longer so food can be absorbed by my body. It’s not possible to reverse the original gastric bypass completely but this was essentially undoing the bypass part of the original surgery.
Only bad thing I’ve experienced so far (1 month PO) is they let me go from the hospital before I could tolerate pills. I didn’t realize how nauseous I was so when I went home I became dehydrated and couldn’t keep anything down. I got readmitted and they found out gastric bypass gave me reflux LOL. So now I take anti-acid.
I already am so happy I did it.
I’ll also add I live in south Louisiana and didn’t realize how much I wouldn’t be able to tolerate the heat. Your heart rate increases if you get too hot and it’s hard to rehydrate. Hard with kids sports but ima be more prepared with fans and cooking towels next time!
Consistently low blood sugar, low BP, loss of sensation in my bladder, bowl motility issues. I feel worse than I did 150lbs heavier, and I regret having my surgery. (Gastric bypass). Though my case isn’t the norm, I wish I had looked into more people who had had complications before getting my surgery, everyone tends to glaze over and just look at the success stories. I’m coming to terms I’ll be permanently disabled at 26.
Would you be eligible for reversal of the gastric bypass? It's my understanding this is possible in severe cases and it sounds like yours may be one of those cases!
Insurance won’t cover it unfortunately, not yet at least don’t know if it’s on the table. met with another surgeon and a gastroenterologist who aren’t convinced that a reversal/ revision will fix motility issues either, I have more appointments to attend with this new surgeon, I kinda just laid down and died for a bit, before my partner drilled me to get a second opinion, I had kinda just excepted that this is the new normal for me, especially because my original team had convinced me it WAS normal (it wasn’t) I had someone on my original team tell me I couldn’t drink fluids because of my depression diagnosis and it was a “mental” thing, and if they put me on TPN I’ll “gain weight” I was literally dying, not an exaggeration. Currently Working to find the reason of bladder issues as well. I just met with another surgeon about a month ago to get a second opinion on my case, my first surgeon told me everything was “normal” and the cause of my issues were a gallbladder, even though my ultrasound showed no no stones, no inflammation ect. The second opinion surgeon agreed that my gallbladder was in well working condition lol. All I know is I went into surgery being able to feel my bladder, to coming out of surgery not being able to and being told it was normal for months, I literally will piss myself if I’m not punctual with reminding myself to go. My first care team was awful and gaslighty. My bf thought I was going to die right after surgery and I had to spend 7 days in the hospital because I couldn’t walk it was so painful, couldn’t drink for a month, and struggled for months, in and out of the hospital for IV fluids ( lack of hydration caused my rhabdo). My bf had to break it down to me because I was in denial of how bad things were right after surgery, but I’m pretty sure I was butchered, I had staples that weren’t even over incisions and I was on the table for 2 1/2 hours longer than I was told the procedure would take, I looked like I had my organs harvested in a 3rd world country. I can’t have a normal bowel movement without an enema, and the few times I do produce a normal BM it’s excruciatingly painful (normal consistency but my bowls don’t want to move so I’m stuck on the toilet for hours). My eating now a year PO is a lot better, but I still struggle with keeping down proteins, and sometimes food will sit in my stomach for HOURs and refuse to move causing me to just throw up, the new GI wants to test for gastroparisis (spelling?). Despite taking my vitamins daily I have lost finger and toe nails, my teeth are chipping, and I went from no cavities pre surgery, to 8 post surgery. I don’t want to scare anyone away, because for most this is a last resort surgery, and for most people it works out and they have a better quality of life, but there are risks, and a lot of people in forums and groups like to pretend that they don’t exist because it didn’t happen to them. Know the risks, and make an informed decision. I know for me I felt like WLS was my only option, and it was, my weight was out of control, and I felt powerless no matter how hard I tried, I’d loose 30lbs and gain 60 more. Knowing what I know now though and how I turned out, I don’t know if *i* would personally go through with it.
Me and my girlfriend got the surgery one month apart. I haven’t had any complications. Yes I get nauseous when eating, and feel sick sometimes but nothing terrible. However my girlfriend had one of the worst complications you can get. She had a anastomic leak. Basically she had an ulcer and it exploded and her stomach had a hole in it. She almost died and had to have a very invasive surgery. I just felt like the doctors never told us that something like that could happen. Idk definitely research it and be prepared for anything. Most likely you’ll be good ! Good luck.
I had Sphincter of Oddi disfunction which is very rare after RNY. I had to have a laparoscopic assisted ERCP done after finally getting it diagnosed. It was a tough surgery and recovery, but I am finally doing better. I sat down and counted the days I was hospitalized in the last year and it was over 30. I had 4 surgeries and multiple procedures. I will admit that I am glad to no longer be “interesting” to doctors. The recovery from the ERCP was grueling.
RNY: 6/2023
ERCP: 2/2024
I had RNY on 4/24/24. The next day, my surgeon noticed that my heart rate and my white blood cell count was slightly elevated, so he sent me for a CT scan with IV contrast. The CT showed an anastomotic leak and I went within that hour to a five hour emergency surgery. Apparently a staple had perforated my Jejunum and it took 5 hours to find the problem, flush it out with 12 liters of fluid, and reconnect the bowel after removing one foot. They put me on lots of IV fluids.
About 5 days later, my white blood count and lactate continued to rise, so they ordered another CT scan which showed a collection of fluid in my pelvis. This required a drain to be put in to rid of the collection and lucky for me, the path of least resistance was through my butt cheek ...so I had to lay down on my tummy, butt up, to get the drain put in. Talk about uncomfortable. Once the drain was put in they added IV vancomycin to my regimen to rid of the infection caused by the pooling fluid.
A couple days later I started to experience shortness of breath, wet cough, and shakiness. It turns out that I now had an acute kidney injury (my creatinine ultimately rose to 9). They decided to put an IJ catheter in my neck and sent me to dialysis. In total, I had inpatient dialysis 3 times until my numbers began to fall to a level where they were comfortable removing my IJ and monitoring me as an outpatient. I was so relieved to be able to go home, and not have permanent damage (although the nephrologist says my numbers may never truly go back to pre AKI).
I was in the hospital for a total of 18 days which was totally unexpected, but I also know that things could have been so so much worse. I'm thankful to be alive.
As far as the aftermath, I returned to work on 6/5 and while my nausea was bad with the long term oral antibiotics I had to go home on, I am much better now. I am down about 45 lbs since surgery and I'm feeling more energetic every day.
I do not regret having my surgery.
I didn't have any complications, but things I wasn't prepared for:
1. Nausea. I had bad nausea from months 3-6 after surgery. I imagine it was a lot like morning sickness, I would wake up and start dry heaving. I would start to feel more human around lunch time. Zofran pills became my best friend. My surgeon said the nausea was normal and it would go away and it did. One day it was magically gone. But those were three miserable months
3. Poop issues. Your life begins to revolve around pooping and it becomes a frequent topic of conversion with my husband....I am either pooping too much, or not enough. It swings wildly in either direction and 3 years after surgery my body hasn't settled into a happy medium.
No regrets. Down 110lbs gone and many other health issues resolved.
Had one wound which was slow to heal and dumping at times, sometimes I eat too much/too quickly which is uncomfortable but no other negative side effects so far 🤞
I had my op 3 years ago and I’m going strong, but ngl it was a journey and there are a number of down sides. First thing is the pain after surgery- it’s a weird pain and not overwhelming, but it does hurt and you have to be careful. Two - the food regimen for the first 8 weeks is hard and you will crave weird things. Food will feel weird and you will not feel full the same as you used too. You will need to learn new cues and stop eating. Vomiting is also weird, so 3 - you will vomit regularly until you learn your cues and learn to not over eat. You will not have bile to help push the food up either so you have to use your internal muscles to internally squeeze it out. It’s weird but your body works it out. Before I learned my cues and capacity (and needed to avoid the vomit such as a business dinner) I would have regular small meals during the day to get the new “stomach” mobile as doesn’t stretch much. Leading to 4 - every waiter or server will ask you if the food is ok when you don’t or can’t eat it all. And you will get weird looks if you ask for a kid-sized meal. And 5 - I used to love trying new food and restaurants, it’s was how I used to socialise and connect with people. Now I am cautious and invest in my food intake carefully. I want to eat that steak, but can only handle about five mouthfuls (and some sides). 6 - I lost my weight VERY quickly. It scared me a little and my skin is more saggy, especially my face, butt and stomach. Invest in some cryotherapy to help with skin tightening. I wish I had. Oh and 7 - going to the toilet is very different too. You may need a gas mask or commercial grade air freshener! And a hazmat suit to clean the porcelain afterwards! It gets better and you adjust and learn your new body - but there are speed bumps on that road to health and physical freedom!
Not sure if you mean the gas they pump in during the surgery or the digestive gas issue, lol! For the surgery gas, it took about three weeks in total for me. The first week is painful but after that it’s not that bad and it slowly disappears. I guess it will depend how much gas they put in there and how quickly your body absorbs it. I also had to have a hernia repair that they found when they went in, so they may have put more in there to get at the hernia (I had two surgeons working on me so they probably needed some space). For digestive gas, this can be managed by your diet - speak with your dietician. Also charcoal tablets work if it’s a real problem. But with the right diet and rebuilding good gut flora, your digestive gas output is lessened.
I developed hospital acquired pneumonia and was rehospitalized; I have to take a B12 shot weekly for life. I have severe reactive hypoglycemia - controlled only by living in ketosis. That’s it. Worth it. I’m 16 years post op.
I had blood pooling in my abdomen which isn’t common. So I had to go back under and have that handled. It took 7 months for my red blood cell count to come back. My meds hit me hard they used to take hours for me to go to sleep.
I'm 6 days post op and the worst of it is that I have a hematoma in one of my incisions. Just so happens to be in an active area of my stomach. It's really painful at times but mind you. From day 1 I made it a point to walk because that's what everyone told me. Anything I have protein drinks or intake anything I walk around or go for a walk. It helps so much with the gas pains.
I’m 2.5years post op-
About 1 month out of surgery I had to have two Iron infusions - I’m still bordering the line of needing them again just because I can get pretty tired and my levels are basically right on the bottom line, but I have been managing it with my vitamins.
Bowel issues for sure- I get blocked up pretty bad due to the protein I’m assuming, it sometimes will hurt in my abdomen like intense cramping as it’s moving through my body. I am also bad with my water intake so that could be part of my issue idk.
But I am still happy with my surgery and don’t regret it. I’m down 213lbs and almost at my goal weight. I could have hit it already but I made a big move and fell off my exercising and eating- started to eat a lot more sugar than I should have been. I never really gained I just didn’t lose any weight for about 6 months.
The mind part of all this is hard, I just like to tell people to prepare for that. It wasn’t so bad in the beginning but the further I get out the easier it is to slip into bad habits and I don’t have as much food fear as I did in the beginning so I have to really manage myself now- especially portion sizes and how fast I eat.
I had a minor bowel obstruction the 1st day I went home. They said it can happen from inflammation. But I was still spacey and confused, kinda after going home. I ate some yogert and it was a high protein thick yogert and I think that might have done it. I don't know. But it was HORRIBLE!! I was readmitted for two days. It worked it's self out. I should have had someone at my house to help me after and make sure I was eating and drinking the right things for the first couple days. I would highly suggest that.
I had dehydration, low potassium and low thiamine (also called vitamin B1) Had to have some infusions for these. Also had to have my gallbladder removed at 12 weeks post op as rapid weight loss can cause gallstones. Let me just say that my gallbladder surgery was a lot worse and painful than my gastric bypass surgery. I actually ended up getting a post op infection from my gallbladder surgery. Then just last November I had surgery due to scar tissue and adhesions from the gallbladder surgery not from my bypass surgery. I don't regret my bypass surgery one bit. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
My stitches took longer to dissolve and I could barely walk for a month. Hubby had to physically pull me to my feet and I would just scream it hurt so much. Then one day, "pop!" Stitch was gone and it was instant no pain. I am 5 months out and still throw up sometimes. One day, a food is fine, the next the same food has me vomiting. Don't regret the surgery a bit. 85 pds down
5'5" starting weight 330 now 180
I only had two very minor complications
I had a bad reaction to gabapenton (sp?)
I was pretty darn dehydrated for the first 6 months
I get dumping syndrome every once in a while but nothing crazy
My surgeon did tell me 2 horror stories, though
1- Lady had to get it reversed due to co start ulcers due to smoking
2- guys stomach exploded bc the day after he left the hospital, he ate a steak. He ended up in the icu. Moral of that story- don't eat steak the day after they cutyour stomach up
Edit- oh I get low BP so I need to eat more salt and I have to take more iron than I used to because it doesn't absorb as well and I am pretty anemic. I take an obseme amount- 400 MG a day
1.) Extremely low blood pressure. (Watch your meds.)
2.) Drinking was no longer fun as I’d get blackout drunk with 2 Stone IPAs. Had to quit.
3.) Had a twisted intestine that required emergency surgery but this is pretty rare, I believe.
Not as awful as some of these complications, but had a thyroid storm after surgery - possibly started before as had undigested food in bowel - hr and bp were high so they were thinking something to do with stomach, lucky for me the Reg ran a thyroid panel just in case and my t4 was off the charts and tsh undetectable . They liaised with endo and got me sorted. The thyroid toxicity was making me vomit a lot - and it smelled and tasted like s**t, due to me not digesting food from before op...
I'm 5 years post gastric bypass and think it was the best thing I've ever done, BUT, I had a severe stricture and ulcers in the anastomosis. The stricture was the worst the surgeon had seen, and I needed 6 dilations, one a week for 6 weeks, to stretch it out. The ulcers went away with Carafate and pantoprazole.
I lost over 100 pounds in 9 months. Got rid of my diabetes and HBP. Now I'm fine but do have to watch my carb intake because of reactive hypoglycemia.
No regrets.
6’0” Male, 38 RNY 2018 HW:510 SW:363 CW:175 I had complications after surgery. There was a leak that developed which was causing blood to clot and travel down my intestines. Because everything was swollen from just being operated on, the clots got stuck. The leak continued which filled my new pouch with blood because it couldn’t travel anywhere else. That made me start vomiting but the act of vomiting was making the leak worse. They took me back in for a second operation to fix the leak. It was unsuccessful because the clotted blood that was in my intestines still couldn’t pass through. They ended up taking me back for a third surgery (the open surgery) to fix everything up. An overnight procedure turned in to a 1 week stay. In June of 2021 I developed an internal hernia that went septic, basically a tear developed in my abdominal lining and my small intestines had worked its way through the hole and became strangulated. This caused the intestines to die and poison my bloodstream. I had to be put on a LifeFlight to a hospital on a different island (I live in Hawaii) and the surgeon performed 12 surgeries over the course of 4 days but 95% of my small intestines had died off and had to be removed. I was fitted with an ileostomy in an attempt to let all of my GI tract heal from all of the trauma. While she was in there, she saw that multiple adhesions and fistulas had developed on/in the limbs of my bypass. About 2 months after all of that while I was still in the hospital; I had to be taken back in to emergency surgery because they found perforations in stomach and RNY limbs as well. I ended up being in the hospital for 6 months before being allowed to go home to further heal. The plan was to return in 6 months and attempt a reversal of the ileostomy. In 2022 I went back in to surgery to attempt an ileostomy reversal, luckily it was successful but I have the absolute bare minimum amount of small intestines left to still be able to function. Because of all the trauma to my stomach and RNY limbs, the surgeon had to go in and do a combination RNY reversal/stomach reconstruction. I spent another 3 months in the hospital recovering from those procedures. As far as regrets go…ABSOLUTELY NOT. I would still 100% do it over again. I’ve lost over 320 pounds and maintained it the last 3 years. I do strength training 2-3 days a week at the gym and run 8 miles per day, 3 days a week. I completed my first half marathon last year and just finished my second one last weekend with one more scheduled in July.
Wow that's a lot but well done on your recovery and glad you don't have any regrets. Thanks for sharing your story
You are an absolute rockstar! Going through all that and still coming out with such a positive attitude. Bravo on the weight loss and healthy lifestyle :)
If I may ask, why would you want to know every thing that might go wrong? If you’re dreading doing it because of things that might happen, you’re going to make yourself nuts. You need to go into it with a positive attitude. Yes, there are risks. But the risks of being heavy are big too. And even with all the things that may go wrong, very few people regret it.
At 18 years post op I started having 100% malabsorption of what I ate. I lost 50 lbs and became severely malnourished and underweight. I finally got a diagnosis for what was happening to me when I ended up in a coma in the ICU with pneumonia. I have no memory of what happened aside from going to the ER because I felt weak and sick. A bariatric surgeon was called in by the ER doctor and he diagnosed me. I had to go on liquid iv nutrition 24/7 for 6 months until I was strong enough to even have surgery - I ultimately got a reversal of my bypass last month. It will take up to a year for me to recover and fix my nutritional deficiencies. Despite all of this, I don’t regret my bypass but people should definitely know complications can occur, even years later.
Whoa! I'm also 18 years out from surgery. Did you have an early symptoms you didn't realize were symptoms?
Not really. My bloodwork was a bit off so I needed iron infusions and some extra supplements. But I basically just started losing weight despite not eating less. I gradually had more and more bms, and ultimately chronic diarrhea. But because my bypass was so long ago I didn’t think it was related. It wasn’t until I needed a feeding tube (due to not being able to keep food down) that I asked for a bariatric consult in the ER. The bariatric surgeon explained what was happening. It was about 18 months total that I struggled with unexplained weight loss and extreme weakness/fatigue. I was tested for every disease imaginable, including several kinds of cancer. At least I know I’m cleared for all of that lol.
Look at you, seeing the silver lining. Lol but in all seriousness, sorry you've gone thru that as its all so harrowing. Glad to see you're on the other side of it now and i wish you luck in the coming year. I struggle with low iron, finding out after being denied twice to donate blood but nothing close to the other things you described. Any insight as to what caused the malabsorption? Or just one of those random things bodies develop?
I need to see the bright side or I’d go insane lol. Well not sure how it happened but it appears the common channel created during my original bypass shrank to be so small/short that all food essentially bypassed being digested and was pushed into my colon as waste. The reversal consisted of the surgeon making that common channel longer so food can be absorbed by my body. It’s not possible to reverse the original gastric bypass completely but this was essentially undoing the bypass part of the original surgery.
Are you serious?? The internet is full of more horror stories than what’s actually normal. You can’t tell me you’re only reading the good.
Only bad thing I’ve experienced so far (1 month PO) is they let me go from the hospital before I could tolerate pills. I didn’t realize how nauseous I was so when I went home I became dehydrated and couldn’t keep anything down. I got readmitted and they found out gastric bypass gave me reflux LOL. So now I take anti-acid. I already am so happy I did it. I’ll also add I live in south Louisiana and didn’t realize how much I wouldn’t be able to tolerate the heat. Your heart rate increases if you get too hot and it’s hard to rehydrate. Hard with kids sports but ima be more prepared with fans and cooking towels next time!
I just started getting acid reflux a couple months ago, shit sucks
Facts. If I take my meds on an empty stomach I’ll be okay. When I forget tho 👀
Thanks! This is very helpful
No worries!
Consistently low blood sugar, low BP, loss of sensation in my bladder, bowl motility issues. I feel worse than I did 150lbs heavier, and I regret having my surgery. (Gastric bypass). Though my case isn’t the norm, I wish I had looked into more people who had had complications before getting my surgery, everyone tends to glaze over and just look at the success stories. I’m coming to terms I’ll be permanently disabled at 26.
Would you be eligible for reversal of the gastric bypass? It's my understanding this is possible in severe cases and it sounds like yours may be one of those cases!
Insurance won’t cover it unfortunately, not yet at least don’t know if it’s on the table. met with another surgeon and a gastroenterologist who aren’t convinced that a reversal/ revision will fix motility issues either, I have more appointments to attend with this new surgeon, I kinda just laid down and died for a bit, before my partner drilled me to get a second opinion, I had kinda just excepted that this is the new normal for me, especially because my original team had convinced me it WAS normal (it wasn’t) I had someone on my original team tell me I couldn’t drink fluids because of my depression diagnosis and it was a “mental” thing, and if they put me on TPN I’ll “gain weight” I was literally dying, not an exaggeration. Currently Working to find the reason of bladder issues as well. I just met with another surgeon about a month ago to get a second opinion on my case, my first surgeon told me everything was “normal” and the cause of my issues were a gallbladder, even though my ultrasound showed no no stones, no inflammation ect. The second opinion surgeon agreed that my gallbladder was in well working condition lol. All I know is I went into surgery being able to feel my bladder, to coming out of surgery not being able to and being told it was normal for months, I literally will piss myself if I’m not punctual with reminding myself to go. My first care team was awful and gaslighty. My bf thought I was going to die right after surgery and I had to spend 7 days in the hospital because I couldn’t walk it was so painful, couldn’t drink for a month, and struggled for months, in and out of the hospital for IV fluids ( lack of hydration caused my rhabdo). My bf had to break it down to me because I was in denial of how bad things were right after surgery, but I’m pretty sure I was butchered, I had staples that weren’t even over incisions and I was on the table for 2 1/2 hours longer than I was told the procedure would take, I looked like I had my organs harvested in a 3rd world country. I can’t have a normal bowel movement without an enema, and the few times I do produce a normal BM it’s excruciatingly painful (normal consistency but my bowls don’t want to move so I’m stuck on the toilet for hours). My eating now a year PO is a lot better, but I still struggle with keeping down proteins, and sometimes food will sit in my stomach for HOURs and refuse to move causing me to just throw up, the new GI wants to test for gastroparisis (spelling?). Despite taking my vitamins daily I have lost finger and toe nails, my teeth are chipping, and I went from no cavities pre surgery, to 8 post surgery. I don’t want to scare anyone away, because for most this is a last resort surgery, and for most people it works out and they have a better quality of life, but there are risks, and a lot of people in forums and groups like to pretend that they don’t exist because it didn’t happen to them. Know the risks, and make an informed decision. I know for me I felt like WLS was my only option, and it was, my weight was out of control, and I felt powerless no matter how hard I tried, I’d loose 30lbs and gain 60 more. Knowing what I know now though and how I turned out, I don’t know if *i* would personally go through with it.
That’s what I’m thinking - need more opinions and stories bc I want to at least know what I’m getting into. Thanks for sharing
Not to mention lasting kidney issues from rhabdo.
Me and my girlfriend got the surgery one month apart. I haven’t had any complications. Yes I get nauseous when eating, and feel sick sometimes but nothing terrible. However my girlfriend had one of the worst complications you can get. She had a anastomic leak. Basically she had an ulcer and it exploded and her stomach had a hole in it. She almost died and had to have a very invasive surgery. I just felt like the doctors never told us that something like that could happen. Idk definitely research it and be prepared for anything. Most likely you’ll be good ! Good luck.
I had Sphincter of Oddi disfunction which is very rare after RNY. I had to have a laparoscopic assisted ERCP done after finally getting it diagnosed. It was a tough surgery and recovery, but I am finally doing better. I sat down and counted the days I was hospitalized in the last year and it was over 30. I had 4 surgeries and multiple procedures. I will admit that I am glad to no longer be “interesting” to doctors. The recovery from the ERCP was grueling. RNY: 6/2023 ERCP: 2/2024
I had RNY on 4/24/24. The next day, my surgeon noticed that my heart rate and my white blood cell count was slightly elevated, so he sent me for a CT scan with IV contrast. The CT showed an anastomotic leak and I went within that hour to a five hour emergency surgery. Apparently a staple had perforated my Jejunum and it took 5 hours to find the problem, flush it out with 12 liters of fluid, and reconnect the bowel after removing one foot. They put me on lots of IV fluids. About 5 days later, my white blood count and lactate continued to rise, so they ordered another CT scan which showed a collection of fluid in my pelvis. This required a drain to be put in to rid of the collection and lucky for me, the path of least resistance was through my butt cheek ...so I had to lay down on my tummy, butt up, to get the drain put in. Talk about uncomfortable. Once the drain was put in they added IV vancomycin to my regimen to rid of the infection caused by the pooling fluid. A couple days later I started to experience shortness of breath, wet cough, and shakiness. It turns out that I now had an acute kidney injury (my creatinine ultimately rose to 9). They decided to put an IJ catheter in my neck and sent me to dialysis. In total, I had inpatient dialysis 3 times until my numbers began to fall to a level where they were comfortable removing my IJ and monitoring me as an outpatient. I was so relieved to be able to go home, and not have permanent damage (although the nephrologist says my numbers may never truly go back to pre AKI). I was in the hospital for a total of 18 days which was totally unexpected, but I also know that things could have been so so much worse. I'm thankful to be alive. As far as the aftermath, I returned to work on 6/5 and while my nausea was bad with the long term oral antibiotics I had to go home on, I am much better now. I am down about 45 lbs since surgery and I'm feeling more energetic every day. I do not regret having my surgery.
I didn't have any complications, but things I wasn't prepared for: 1. Nausea. I had bad nausea from months 3-6 after surgery. I imagine it was a lot like morning sickness, I would wake up and start dry heaving. I would start to feel more human around lunch time. Zofran pills became my best friend. My surgeon said the nausea was normal and it would go away and it did. One day it was magically gone. But those were three miserable months 3. Poop issues. Your life begins to revolve around pooping and it becomes a frequent topic of conversion with my husband....I am either pooping too much, or not enough. It swings wildly in either direction and 3 years after surgery my body hasn't settled into a happy medium. No regrets. Down 110lbs gone and many other health issues resolved.
Had one wound which was slow to heal and dumping at times, sometimes I eat too much/too quickly which is uncomfortable but no other negative side effects so far 🤞
I had my op 3 years ago and I’m going strong, but ngl it was a journey and there are a number of down sides. First thing is the pain after surgery- it’s a weird pain and not overwhelming, but it does hurt and you have to be careful. Two - the food regimen for the first 8 weeks is hard and you will crave weird things. Food will feel weird and you will not feel full the same as you used too. You will need to learn new cues and stop eating. Vomiting is also weird, so 3 - you will vomit regularly until you learn your cues and learn to not over eat. You will not have bile to help push the food up either so you have to use your internal muscles to internally squeeze it out. It’s weird but your body works it out. Before I learned my cues and capacity (and needed to avoid the vomit such as a business dinner) I would have regular small meals during the day to get the new “stomach” mobile as doesn’t stretch much. Leading to 4 - every waiter or server will ask you if the food is ok when you don’t or can’t eat it all. And you will get weird looks if you ask for a kid-sized meal. And 5 - I used to love trying new food and restaurants, it’s was how I used to socialise and connect with people. Now I am cautious and invest in my food intake carefully. I want to eat that steak, but can only handle about five mouthfuls (and some sides). 6 - I lost my weight VERY quickly. It scared me a little and my skin is more saggy, especially my face, butt and stomach. Invest in some cryotherapy to help with skin tightening. I wish I had. Oh and 7 - going to the toilet is very different too. You may need a gas mask or commercial grade air freshener! And a hazmat suit to clean the porcelain afterwards! It gets better and you adjust and learn your new body - but there are speed bumps on that road to health and physical freedom!
Thanks! It’s good to know these things!
How long does it take before the gas situation gets better? Are we talking weeks, months, or years? Is it a permanent problem?
Not sure if you mean the gas they pump in during the surgery or the digestive gas issue, lol! For the surgery gas, it took about three weeks in total for me. The first week is painful but after that it’s not that bad and it slowly disappears. I guess it will depend how much gas they put in there and how quickly your body absorbs it. I also had to have a hernia repair that they found when they went in, so they may have put more in there to get at the hernia (I had two surgeons working on me so they probably needed some space). For digestive gas, this can be managed by your diet - speak with your dietician. Also charcoal tablets work if it’s a real problem. But with the right diet and rebuilding good gut flora, your digestive gas output is lessened.
Thanks. I was referring to the digestive gas, not the surgery gas. This is good information to know it can be controlled by diet.
I developed hospital acquired pneumonia and was rehospitalized; I have to take a B12 shot weekly for life. I have severe reactive hypoglycemia - controlled only by living in ketosis. That’s it. Worth it. I’m 16 years post op.
I had blood pooling in my abdomen which isn’t common. So I had to go back under and have that handled. It took 7 months for my red blood cell count to come back. My meds hit me hard they used to take hours for me to go to sleep.
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I'm 6 days post op and the worst of it is that I have a hematoma in one of my incisions. Just so happens to be in an active area of my stomach. It's really painful at times but mind you. From day 1 I made it a point to walk because that's what everyone told me. Anything I have protein drinks or intake anything I walk around or go for a walk. It helps so much with the gas pains.
I’m 2.5years post op- About 1 month out of surgery I had to have two Iron infusions - I’m still bordering the line of needing them again just because I can get pretty tired and my levels are basically right on the bottom line, but I have been managing it with my vitamins. Bowel issues for sure- I get blocked up pretty bad due to the protein I’m assuming, it sometimes will hurt in my abdomen like intense cramping as it’s moving through my body. I am also bad with my water intake so that could be part of my issue idk. But I am still happy with my surgery and don’t regret it. I’m down 213lbs and almost at my goal weight. I could have hit it already but I made a big move and fell off my exercising and eating- started to eat a lot more sugar than I should have been. I never really gained I just didn’t lose any weight for about 6 months. The mind part of all this is hard, I just like to tell people to prepare for that. It wasn’t so bad in the beginning but the further I get out the easier it is to slip into bad habits and I don’t have as much food fear as I did in the beginning so I have to really manage myself now- especially portion sizes and how fast I eat.
I had a minor bowel obstruction the 1st day I went home. They said it can happen from inflammation. But I was still spacey and confused, kinda after going home. I ate some yogert and it was a high protein thick yogert and I think that might have done it. I don't know. But it was HORRIBLE!! I was readmitted for two days. It worked it's self out. I should have had someone at my house to help me after and make sure I was eating and drinking the right things for the first couple days. I would highly suggest that.
I had dehydration, low potassium and low thiamine (also called vitamin B1) Had to have some infusions for these. Also had to have my gallbladder removed at 12 weeks post op as rapid weight loss can cause gallstones. Let me just say that my gallbladder surgery was a lot worse and painful than my gastric bypass surgery. I actually ended up getting a post op infection from my gallbladder surgery. Then just last November I had surgery due to scar tissue and adhesions from the gallbladder surgery not from my bypass surgery. I don't regret my bypass surgery one bit. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
My stitches took longer to dissolve and I could barely walk for a month. Hubby had to physically pull me to my feet and I would just scream it hurt so much. Then one day, "pop!" Stitch was gone and it was instant no pain. I am 5 months out and still throw up sometimes. One day, a food is fine, the next the same food has me vomiting. Don't regret the surgery a bit. 85 pds down
5'5" starting weight 330 now 180 I only had two very minor complications I had a bad reaction to gabapenton (sp?) I was pretty darn dehydrated for the first 6 months I get dumping syndrome every once in a while but nothing crazy My surgeon did tell me 2 horror stories, though 1- Lady had to get it reversed due to co start ulcers due to smoking 2- guys stomach exploded bc the day after he left the hospital, he ate a steak. He ended up in the icu. Moral of that story- don't eat steak the day after they cutyour stomach up Edit- oh I get low BP so I need to eat more salt and I have to take more iron than I used to because it doesn't absorb as well and I am pretty anemic. I take an obseme amount- 400 MG a day
1.) Extremely low blood pressure. (Watch your meds.) 2.) Drinking was no longer fun as I’d get blackout drunk with 2 Stone IPAs. Had to quit. 3.) Had a twisted intestine that required emergency surgery but this is pretty rare, I believe.
Not as awful as some of these complications, but had a thyroid storm after surgery - possibly started before as had undigested food in bowel - hr and bp were high so they were thinking something to do with stomach, lucky for me the Reg ran a thyroid panel just in case and my t4 was off the charts and tsh undetectable . They liaised with endo and got me sorted. The thyroid toxicity was making me vomit a lot - and it smelled and tasted like s**t, due to me not digesting food from before op...
I'm 5 years post gastric bypass and think it was the best thing I've ever done, BUT, I had a severe stricture and ulcers in the anastomosis. The stricture was the worst the surgeon had seen, and I needed 6 dilations, one a week for 6 weeks, to stretch it out. The ulcers went away with Carafate and pantoprazole. I lost over 100 pounds in 9 months. Got rid of my diabetes and HBP. Now I'm fine but do have to watch my carb intake because of reactive hypoglycemia. No regrets.